The week of the annual ABA Administrative Law Conference has arrived! This is the signature event of the ABA Administrative Law Section.

As Chris Walker detailed in a prior post, we have a terrific set of panels and speakers this year. You can still register for the full two-day program here (or Thursday only here, or Friday only here). The full conference program brochure is here. We will have a panel on Thursday, November 19 from 5:00-6:00 p.m. to discuss administrative law job opportunities for young lawyers.

We’ve made the decision to make this panel open to the public and not behind the conference paywall: Anyone can view the program via this Zoom link.

The panel will discuss how to apply for attorney job openings (many are not on USAJOBS) and how to stand out in the application process.

Feel free to invite your colleagues, students, or others who may be interested to join us for this plenary panel.

Here are the full details on the panel, from the program brochure:

November 19, 2020 

5:00 pm – 6:00 pm Administrative Law Job Opportunities for Young Lawyers 

The panel will discuss opportunities for lawyers to find administrative law jobs with the federal government. Panelists will discuss how to find a job opening, how to tailor your application to a job opening, and how to best present yourself in an interview. The panel will be focused towards young lawyers and recent graduates but will be applicable to attorneys of all experience levels. 

Moderator:

Elizabeth A. Carr, Assistant Dean of Career Services, Mercer University School of Law

Elizabeth Carr serves as the Assistant Dean of Career Services at Mercer University School of Law. Ms. Carr is a proud double bear, graduating from Mercer University in 2006 with a B.A. in Political Science and obtaining her J.D. from Mercer Law School in 2010. Before joining the senior staff at Mercer Law School, Ms. Carr worked as an associate at the Law Office of Jeanie K. Tupper P.C. in Albany, Georgia. Her practice focused on family law, social security disability, personal injury, wills and estate planning, and bankruptcy law. Ms. Carr is a member of the National Association for Law Placement (where she serves as Regional Representative), State Bar of Georgia, the Young Lawyers Division of the State Bar of Georgia, Macon Bar-Young Lawyers Division, Georgia Association of Women Lawyers, and she is a graduate of the State Bar of Georgia, Young Lawyers Division Leadership Academy. Additionally, Ms. Carr serves as the permanent treasurer for the South Eastern Minority Job Fair, which serves over 30 schools and over 100 employers from across the country. She is also active in her local church, Ingleside Baptist in Macon, Georgia. 

Panelists: 

Sonya Y. Pass, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Senior Legal Counsel to the General Counsel

Sonya Pass is a 20-year veteran of the legal profession. She currently works at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) as Senior Counsel to the General Counsel and Chief of Staff for the Legal Division. Prior to joining CFPB in January 2017, Sonya practiced in the areas of Federal Labor and Employment law, most recently as Associate Counsel with the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in Dallas, Texas where she received the Director’s Torch Award for excellent legal representation in negotiating a term Collective Bargaining Agreement. Prior to that, she worked at the Department of Treasury, Bureau of Engraving & Printing in Fort, Worth, TX, first as Senior Counsel and then as Manager of the Labor and Employee Relations Division. Sonya began her legal career at the Federal Labor Relations Authority in Washington, DC where she served for 7 years as Attorney-Advisor to then-Chairman Carol Waller Pope, before joining the General Counsel’s Office at the United States Patent and Trademark Office in Alexandria, VA. 

Sam Wice, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Special Counsel 

Sam Wice is a special counsel at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Previously he was a detailee/policy analyst at the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and analyst at the Congressional Budget Office. He graduated from Duke University School of Law and Grinnell College.